We’re in the age of legal cannabis and “immersive art experiences” designed to take you inside the work of famous artists. These require renting a warehouse and projecting the work of Vincent van Gogh or some other non-copyrighted artist onto the wall, and the admission is more expensive than visiting a museum. Allow me to share my own immersive art experience: I hadn’t worn a certain sport coat in a while, casually reached into a pocket and pulled out a handful of unlabeled pills. Then I remembered that I brought this jacket to Basel, Switzerland, and these pills were the work of Carsten Höller (b. 1961).
Höller trained as an agricultural scientist and earned a PhD in insect odor communication before turning to art in the early 1990s and beginning experiments on humans. “Two,” his first institutional solo exhibition in China, transformed the lobby of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing into what he calls a “laboratory of doubt.” Co-curated by Philip Tinari and Jiashu Zou, it has two entrances. Visitors are randomly assigned one. From there, they walked through exhibition versions in color or black and white, mostly the same works but in different conditions. The show is designed to be viewed once and compared to other people’s accounts.
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“Carsten Höller: II” |
I have seen a version pill clock In Basel, this was my souvenir; in Beijing, it could be considered the subtle but beating heart of the exhibition. At first glance, it’s just a pile of pills on the floor. Every three seconds a mechanism drops a new object onto the pile from above. Three seconds is what the artist considers “now,” but this work lasted for several months, and I saw its end in Basel. At this point, you’ll be faced with a pyramid-shaped pill containing an “undisclosed substance” that “can be swallowed,” according to press materials. The powder inside is most likely sugar, but why take the chance when the artist’s entire deal is toying with your point of view?
Tilt carousel (five colors) (2026), and its monochromatic twin Tilt carousel (two white) Across the hall, it felt like it was made for social media, but there was no doubt that Holler valued the experience over the photos. Carnival bulbs range in color from magenta to red to amber to acid green. The two carousels spin in opposite directions at a speed that turns a fairground ride into a waiting room: once you’re on the carousel, you’re trapped until the spin is complete, with people standing on the floor watching you. Behind it hangs a clock made of yellow neon concentric rings that accumulate hours and minutes so you can better experience the feeling of slowness—and how stupid you look. How about immersion?
sluice (2026, with Valia Fetisov) Might be a little too immersive for some. Sliding glass doors allow you to enter and then lock like an airlock. It’s a bit like an escape room, without any clues, although they can yell at you. The other side will not open unless you are completely still for 30 seconds. The world is full of distractions and gimmicks. Holler pretends he’s one of them, until the moment he stabs your brain.